Students reach out for Day of Service

Unionville, Kennett students work on projects to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

By Mike McGann, Editor, UnionvilleTimes.com

More than 100 volunteers turned out to help sort and pack food donations for the Kennett Ford Cupboard, part of a wide-range of local activities in a Day of Service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It was truly, “a day on, not a day off.”

Across the area, students, staff, administrators and community members came together Monday to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by engaging in various projects to make things better for those less fortunate, as well as the community in general as part of a Day of Service.

Despite the frosty cool of the morning, the back trails of Anson B. Nixon Park were filled, as students from both Patton Middle School in Unionville and Kennett Middle School worked together clear excess brush and remove trash. Although the neighboring schools are close rivals in sports, within minutes they were working effectively as a team.

“I can’t tell whose kids are whose now,” Kennett Middle School Vice Principal Lorenzo DeAngelis said. “Everyone is just working together, smoothly, as one group. It’s great to see.”

Patton students were also busy at the Pocopson Home, volunteering, while their fellow students at Unionville High School had a total of six different projects going on.

Students from Patton Middle School and Kennett Middle School work together to clear brush and clean up litter at Anson B. Nixon Park in Kennett, Monday.

Unionville had students at the Kennett Senior Center, putting a fresh coat of paint ton the stage in the facility, cleaning and raking the grounds, gift wrapping, preparing membership tags, sorting the supply room, and providing entertainment for the senior citizens.

UHS also had students at Adult Care of Chester County, performing similar duties: cleaning, painting some students entertained the senior citizen participants.

Once again, Unionville students (and numerous members of the community, including Board of Education President Eileen Bushelow), spent hours sorting and packing food that had been donated during a two-week food drive to start the year. The Unionville cafeteria had an entire room filled with busy people — estimated at more than 100 — sorting, filling and packing food for the Kennett Food Cupboard.

Other Unionville students were in Pocopson at the Chester County Youth Center. Volunteers, led by the UHS Dance Team, working with some of the residents of the facility, cleaning, then performed dance numbers to entertain and engage the youth who live at the center.

In addition, as part of HIS Mission, the senior class leadership led an effort to put together “warmth packages” consisting of blankets, gloves, hats, socks, & scarves for those in need in the Delaware Valley. A bit closer to home, the Unionville High freshman class managed a Campus Clean-up, of the high school, middle school and bus garage grounds.

Students, parents at faculty at Pocopson and Hillendale elementary schools were also engaged in Day of Service projects, which The Times will cover in a separate report.